It's Nice To Have A Friend
by SimplySwooningK
Summary: No one said love was easy. Love at 16 is something all together different. Troy and Gabriella navigate something entirely new to the both of them: love. With their focus split between their studies, basketball, extracurricular activities, the pull of the theater, and each other, high school has never been more complicated, more risky or wonderful. Rated M for strong sexual content


**_I should be arrested for starting another story when I already have two going on, but this would not stay silent. This one just sort fell out of the sky. I blame it on Disney+. Please read and review and know that I'm working tirelessly on my other works. This takes place directly after the end of the first movie and is the first a planned trilogy. R&R. XOXO-Kay._**

**It's Nice to Have A Friend**

**One**

_**Like Kindergarten More or Less**_

Word had spread faster than a wildfire that East High's hottest male commodity, Troy Bolton was off the market. At least, that was the rumor mill swirling around faster and hungrier than Santa Ana winds in August. The new girl, Gabriella Montez, was a bit of a mystery to the students, the teachers, to everyone, really.

After all, she'd only been at East High School for less than a month. But in that time, she'd managed to get the lead in the school pay, lead East High to its first Scholastic Decathlon victory and the piece de resistance, she'd landed Troy Bolton.

Gabriella, who wasn't used to being the center of attention, found herself in the clearly in the thick of things at the Wildcat victory party. But she didn't seem to notice or maybe she just didn't care that half the eyes in the room were staring at her, and the others were trying very hard not to.

Everyone wanted to know who she was and how she'd pulled such a coup. She could sense that as she made her way through the crowd

Troy Bolton was fresh off an East High basketball Championship for the record books, and he could not have cared less.

Though he'd been working and training for that championship the entire season, it had never seemed more insignificant.

What did matter was Gabriella, this girl that had entered into his life like a whirlwind, or maybe a song-wind, if there was such a thing. But it didn't' matter what had brought her there, the fact was, she was there.

Troy, though not an innocent, had little time for girls in his life. Basketball came first, second and third in the Bolton Household. Once upon a time, Troy could have and would have waxed poetic about Jordan, James, Byrant and O'Neal, but now he didn't know if he would've remembered and didn't care either way. All he wanted was to be near her, to look at her, to touch her, to know that she felt the same incessant, relentless necessity to breathe the same air.

They were in the middle of the cafeteria, at the jock table below the staircase surrounded by the rest of the elated basketball team, the cheerleaders and the buzz of the entire student body. The Wildcats were champions and everyone knew it.

But despite all of that, Troy and Gabriella could see nothing but Troy and Gabriella. As far as they were concerned, no one else existed. They talked quietly and ignored the questioning glances that seemed to follow their every move.

But when Chad Danforth, Troy's best friend started leading the entire school into a spirited "What Team?" chant, the fledgling lovers decided to seek out quieter and more private surroundings.

They made their way to the rooftop, to Troy's secret hiding place, which of course, wasn't so secret anymore. But now it didn't seem to belong so much to Troy. That was the thought that that crossed his mind as they made their way up the last flight of stairs, it seemed to belong to them.

Was there a them? Troy wondered that too. Was she his girlfriend? She certainly seemed like more than a friend. They had been more than friends from the day they met.

"Wow," Gabriella said as they stepped up onto the rooftop, the warm glow of the Albuquerque sunset surrounding the rooftop garden in a bright, warm glow. "It's so beautiful."

"Yeah," Troy agreed, although he wasn't looking at the view. Gabriella stepped over to the far end of the roof and looked out over Albuquerque. She hadn't felt this at home since before her dad had died, nearly five years earlier.

Part of her didn't want to get attached, part of her was afraid of what being on this rooftop with this particular boy meant, what it could mean. She had never felt such a connection with anyone so quickly. But she realized with equal parts apprehension and excitement, she already was attached.

"So," Troy offered looking for an easy subject. "We're going to be Minnie and Arnold." He came up to stand beside her, their shoulders touching, almost the way they did when he had climbed the tree to her balcony.

"Yeah," a bright smile crossed Gabriella's features. "I can't quite believe it. But it's going to be so much fun." It had been the strangest month of her life. All her hesitancy about attachments and growing closer to anyone seemed to melt when Troy was around. She didn't know what it was. It was like she already knew him, like they were already as close as they could be.

"You know," Troy offered as he turned to face her, his left hand gently intertwining with hers. "We might have to thank that guy."

A perplexed look crossed Gabriella's features. "What guy?"

"The one from the lodge, the one who made us do karaoke."

Her eyes laughed up at him and her smile beamed. "We just might."

Troy's smile matched her own and his eyes fell to her lips, the way they did when the ball dropped on New Year's Day. Only this time, there were no excuses to be made to keep them from moving too fast.

Their eyes met briefly again. If he was honest with himself, he could've stared at them all day. But staring would have to wait for another day. He leaned in closer, not willing to let anything stand in their way this time. His eyes glanced down at her lips again, making his intentions clear.

His eyes clouded over with something that Gabriella somehow knew was longing. No one had ever looked at her that way. _I hope he always looks at me that way,_ she thought, even though "always" was a notion she'd banished from her reality long ago.

She felt and heard her heart pounding, and wondered if Troy could hear it too. His face was growing closer by the moment. She drank in the scent of him, mint and musk and sweat and him. Her eyes closed instinctively, trusting gravity to guide the rest of the way.

Her toes seem to stand on their own as if there was a current running through her, pushing her to a singular destination. His hand touch her bare shoulder and she shivered slightly as their lips met in the middle. And in a perfect moment, everything else faded away.

His lips were him in a nutshell: strong, yet soft and sentimental. He kissed her firmly with decided want, yet he didn't push, though she had a feeling he wanted to, or maybe it was her that wanted him to. She found herself losing herself in him as her hands clasped around her neck.

Though it was far from his first kiss, Troy already knew it was the best kiss ever he'd ever. Her lips were sugar and icing and alcohol and a thousand other things he knew he'd never get enough of. The rush was stronger than a game winning shot, the feeling more intense than the strongest liquor. He'd been drunk before, but this, this was true intoxication, and he knew he was already an addict.

This girl, this feeling, she'd set off a dream in him. A dream that was like nothing he'd ever dreamt before, a dream that where he didn't have to be anyone but himself. A dream that was like kindergarten…more or less.

The kiss deepened as Troy couldn't stop himself from drinking her in. His hands dropped from her shoulders to her waist and pulling her against him. He hoped he wouldn't scare her away, but she only seemed to clutch his neck tighter, her hands finding their way into his hair.

Annoyingly, air became a necessity and forced them to pull away. Troy planted a soft kiss on her forehead before gently leaning it against her own. Matching, beaming smiles crossed their faces.

"Gabriella," her name came out of his mouth in a soft, affectionate sigh that already betrayed more affection and adoration than he realized. He thumbed her cheek gently and pressed another, soft kiss to her lips.

She nestled her into his chest and dared herself to feel safe, to feel anchored for the first in forever. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, wanting nothing more than to hold her delicate little frame in his arms for as long as he could.

Somehow, someway though neither would remember moving, they made their way to the bench where they talked about everything, about their childhoods, about their families, about their friends, about anything they could think of.

It was the easiest conversation in Troy's recent memory. Everything was light and laughing and lovely, like the air was suddenly champagne instead of oxygen. For a moment the words seem to run dry, but their lips found other ways to fill the time.

Kisses circled somewhere between soft and exploratory to intense and passionate. Passion was something new to Gabriella. This entire thing was something new to Gabriella.

Before a fated karaoke night on her last night of winter vacation, her solace and salvation had been books and numbers. After all, they were the things she could take with her wherever she went. She knew better than most: some things you couldn't hold on to no matter how hard you tried.

Now, she had something to fight for again. It thrilled her, it scared her, and all she could do to calm herself down was lean in, close her eyes and kiss him again.

Scholastic Decathlon and State Championships aside, there was nothing like kissing someone and knowing they would kiss you back.

She had a boyfriend, she realized with unbridled glee as they broke apart. Someone to kiss, someone to share secret smiles with, someone to hold hands with. Someone that was her own.

She realized suddenly that she also had a best friend. Someone to talk to, some to joke with, someone to just be herself with. With that realization, she took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers.

Troy, understanding everything her eyes said, lifted their joined hands and kissed her palm, overjoyed with the day and hopeful for what tomorrow would bring.

Truly, it was nice to have a friend.

.


End file.
